The Automotive Tram Union (UTA) analyzes a measure of force for Tuesday 29 Octoberwhich could be a bus stop or do not charge tickets throughout the Buenos Aires metropolitan area (AMBA).
The wage conflict gets bogged down and this Monday 28th the extension of the mandatory conciliation dictated a month ago by the Government. At the end of September the union had decided to call a 48-hour general strike due to the lack of progress in their joint ventures.
This Thursday they met again for Zoom the bus companies, the union and representatives of the Ministry of Labor, and have agreed to a final face-to-face meeting on Monday at 11 am. In between, the assembled members await an official proposal to resolve the financial situation of the company sector. In other words: let the money arrive.
Meanwhile, the UTA general secretary, Roberto Fernández, considers 24-hour general strike next Tuesday. And what worries him above all is the fact that the forceful measure is not interpreted as a strike against Javier Milei’s government, but against businesses.
However, due to the very functioning of the sector, almost the entire collective system is regulated. The UTA points out that “the national state paid increased contributions for the months of August, September and October of this year in the amount of 17,877 million dollars, despite which the companies did not offer any salary increases.”
The companies, meanwhile, estimate they collected about $27.5 billion less in fares and subsidies than expected under the cost structure approved by the Department of Transportation.
The central economic dispute is this 40,000 drivers UTA members have been paid since July base salary of $1,060,000 per month and they seek a retroactive effect to August with gradual increases so that in December it reaches $1,322,000, 24.7% in that period.
On the other hand, due to an old rivalry, Fernández doesn’t want to be stuck with MoyanoHugo and Pablo, who will go on a transport strike on Wednesday 30 October.
Rate increase?
The money for salaries must come from fares paid by passengers or from subsidies from the national state. The sum of both items reaches $880 in September and has only seen a 27% increase so far in 2024.
A meeting will take place on Wednesday 30th between the players in the sector and the Ministry of Economy to evaluate the financial situation and define whether there will be an increase in tariffs or subsidies in mid-Novemberwhich will impact inflation and fiscal accounts.
In the first nine months of the year, Public spending on subsidies for public bus transport accumulated 756,149 million dollars through the Transport Infrastructure System Trust Fund (FFSIT), with a reduction of 31% in real terms – net of the effect of inflation – compared to the same period in 2023, according to data from the Interdisciplinary Institute of Economics Policy (IIEP) of the UBA and Conicet.
Source: Clarin
